Serial Mom (1994)
Comedy, Crime • 1h 34m
Director: John Waters
Cast: Kathleen Turner, Sam Waterston, Ricki Lake, Matthew Lillard, Scott Morgan, Walt MacPherson, Justin Whalin, Patricia Dunnock, Lonnie Horsey, Mink Stole, Mary Jo Catlett, John Badila, Kathy Fannon, Doug Roberts, Traci Lords, Tim Caggiano, Jeff Mandon, Colgate Salsbury, Patsy Grady Abrams, Richard Pilcher, Beau James, Stan Brandorff, Kim Swann, Suzanne Somers, Bus Howard, Alan J. Wendl, Patricia Hearst, Nancy Robinette, Peter Bucossi, Loretto McNally, Wilfred E. Williams, Joshua L. Shoemaker, Rosemary Knower, Susan Lowe, John Calvin Doyle, Mary Vivian Pearce, Brigid Berlin, Jordan Brown, Anthony 'Chip' Brienza, Jeffrey Pratt Gordon, Shelbi Clarke, Nat Benchley, Kyf Brewer, Teresa R. Pete, Zachary S. Pete, Richard Pelzman, Chad Bankerd, Johnny Alonso, Robert Roser, Mike Offenheiser, Lee Hunsaker, Michael S. Walter, Mojo Gentry, Gwendolyn Briley-Strand, Jennifer Mendenhall, Joan Rivers, Catherine Anne Hayes, Susan Duvall, Valerie Yarborough, Jordan Young, Jennifer Finch, Suzi Gardner, Demetra Plakas, Donita Sparks, John A. Schneider, Lyrica Montague, Bess Armstrong, Greg Coale, Kim McGuire, John Poague, Al Sotto, John Waters
Compare the discs
About the film
Beverly is the perfect happy homemaker, along with her doting husband and two children, but this nuclear family just might explode when her fascination with serial killers collides with her ever-so-proper code of ethics.
Director: John Waters
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Criterion 4K is in director's preferred aspect ratio of 1.66:1.
Director: John Waters
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Stereo: Criterion 4K Blu-ray
5.1: Warner Bros Blu-ray
Director: John Waters
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has poor encoding see caps but still a huge improvement over the 2014 Universal Blu-ray
Theatrical cut is on the 4K disc, but the restored Director's Cut is only on the Blu-Ray disc. Director's Cut utilizes the same 4K transfer as the theatrical cut for 86 minutes, but the 6 minutes of restored footage could only be salvaged from a standard definition source and are thus needed to be upscaled.
Director: John Waters
Criterion Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Director: John Waters
Criterion Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Director: John Woo
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Arrow has a different grade and a better encode than the Shout! Factory, though the difference in either is not major. Imprint release, which leaves Shout! Factory's master and subtitles as is, is encoded by FiM. https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=24473097&postcount=56
Original mix: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray
Alternate mix: Scanbox Nordic PAL DVD
Surround remix: HK Video France 4K Blu-ray (5.0)
Original mix: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray (similar to Criterion LaserDisc, but less distorted)
Alternate mix: Scanbox Nordic PAL DVD
Surround remix: HK Video France 4K Blu-ray (5.0)
Arrow used the alternate mix, but with extra filtering and lowered dynamic range. The alternate mix has much better fidelity.
Imprint presumably used the Shout! Factory original mix and left it as is, though no official confirmation.
Director: Michael Cimino
2020 Shout! Factory 4K
2020 Shout! Factory 4K slightly better than StudioCanal in HDR10. Similar in DV
35mm mix: 1991 Universal LaserDisc
70mm mix: StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray
35mm mix: 1991 Universal LaserDisc marginally better than StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray. Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray is downmix.
70mm mix: StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray. Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray is remix.
Director: Rob Reiner
Arrow 4K Blu-ray releasing December 14 2026
Like many of Capelight's other releases, the 4K Blu-ray is low-passed but still looks good.
30th Anniversary Shout! Factory BD has the original stereo mix
Director: Gary Ross
Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray, but a shot was cut from the film
Warner Bros Blu-ray for the uncut version, but it's an older master.
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab) · YouTube (opens in a new tab)
Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray, but a shot was cut from the film. See comparison
Warner Bros Blu-ray for the uncut version, but it's an older master.
Director: John Woo
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
US Shout! Factory or UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray > Disk Kino/WCL China import
review: Disk Kino
Both have better encoding than Disk Kino, some shots are better on Shout! Factory, others on Arrow
Shout Factory still has the best video while Arrow did a questionable regrade. Arrow definitely has less grain in most shots, has a worse encode and is cm v2.9 compared to Shout’s cm v4.0.
Shout! Factory/Arrow 4K Blu-ray has the original mono
Director: Gus Van Sant
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Shout! Factory and Carlotta use the same scan https://slow.pics/c/Wcn5YFlw, the Carlotta has two extra bonus features
Director: Michael Mann
More Comedy on Blu-ray
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: Jack Conway
4K restoration from safety preservation elements
4K restoration from safety preservation elements
Director: Jack Conway
4K restoration from safety preservation elements
Director: William Dieterle
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
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